The Red Sox have given up on the 2014 season, but fans, don't give up on them.

The white flag was raised Thursday, when four trades sent five players to various teams. If management has punted the season, why should anyone watch?

Friday's 4-3 win over the New York Yankees offered strong evidence that the New Sox will be more worth watching than the team that was just taken apart, piece by piece.

The Old Sox - that team we were watching on Wednesday - were a shell of their 2013 past. The New Sox are all about the fascinating unknown of 2015.

Why watch? Let's run down some reasons:

1. The rotation. Anthony Ranaudo's big league debut was a good one. In six innings, he allowed four hits with four walks. He first strikeout victim was Derek Jeter, which will be a nice story to tell his grandchildren in 35 years.

On Saturday, Allen Webster will get another chance to win over the skeptics of his place in the rotation. Clay Buchholz interrupts the youth movement on Sunday, but with Rubby De La Rosa, Brandon Workman and newly acquired Joe Kelly on the premises, the scramble for 2015 spots is on.

2. Centerfielders. Called up from Pawtucket, Mookie Betts robbed Jacoby Ellsbury on an eighth-inning catch that had a Willie Mays look to it.

He's not even as good in center as Jackie Bradley Jr., who took over in center with Betts moving to right in the ninth. Few teams, if any, have two such exciting young outfielders.

3. Will Middlebrooks. The Red Sox intend to find out if the power hitting but inconsistent third baseman is in or out of their plans. Activated from the disabled list, he struck out twice and flared a double that led to a run.

4. Koji Uehara. How did he slip through the trade network? With so many other familiar faces gone, Uehara felt like an old friend when he trotted in for the ninth.

The Red Sox will likely offer Uehara a qualifying offer of around $15 million for 2015. He may be back, he may not. Either way, let's enjoy the master at work while we can.

5. Brock Holt. The best story of 2014 has cooled off lately, but on Friday, he delivered a key triple and he can still play anywhere. Watching Holt play baseball explains why so many people like baseball.

6. Xander Bogaerts at shortstop. With Stephen Drew on the other team and playing second base for the first time in his career, Bogaerts is back at his natural position. He had one ball - one - hit to him Friday.

On that play, Bogaerts made a sensational stop up the middle and barely missed throwing out Ellsbury at first base. Just making the stop saved a run, which later proved crucial in this one-run outcome.

7. Christian Vazquez. The plan was for Vazquez to catch 60 percent of the time and David Ross 40 percent. But Ross is breaking down physically, so Vazquez could wind up playing much more than that.

Is he the catcher of the future? So far, so good. We will see.

8. New guys. Allen Craig had a double in his debut. Yoenis Cespedes has yet to debut. How will the lineup look, where will Holt play, and how will John Farrell balance playing the rookies with the need to get best value out of the veterans?

These are unanswered questions at the moment. How they unfold will offer an interesting set of subplots over the final two months.

Nothing is more listless than watching a non-contending baseball team game after late-season game on the road to nowhere. That was the case in 2012, when Bobby Valentine's future was in jeopardy and the lineup hardly looked like anything the Red Sox wanted to carry over to 2013.

That is not the case now. The Red Sox will likely lose between 85 and 90 games, though performances such as Ranaudo's raise the hope of a better finish than that.

The final record, however, is no longer the point. That's a new concept for Red Sox fans, who are being asked to watch a team that will go through what amounts to extended spring training from now till the end.

The win on Friday, though, showed it could be fun. For four months, watching the 2014 Red Sox was all about watching whether they could resemble the 2013 Red Sox.

The recent past was so magical that the fans yearned for at least the hint of an encore. Moving forward will not be about the past, but what lies ahead.

The New Sox take a 1-0 record into Saturday's game. There will be ups and downs, but on Friday, the mood of simply enduring the season felt replaced by the feeling that there's at least a point to it again.

It would be better to contend, yes. Wait till next year is still not a part of Red Sox Nation's DNA.

But this reconfigured team is worth watching.In fact, it's more worth watching than the club that was just dismantled.

That one was spinning its wheels, losing interest and losing our interest. This one is looking for traction.

How well they do will be worth a long look as the peculiar 2014 season winds down.